Food pantry needs help stocking up for holidays

Get your non-perishable food boxed up and ready to help fill the shelves of a Belton food pantry. Right now, The City of Belton Fire Department is hosting a food drive to benefit Belton’s Helping Hands Ministry.

Helping Hands Ministry serves over 3,000 Belton and surrounding community residents each week. The food pantry helps clients stretch their food budget, helping their dollar go further by providing nutritious food and hygiene items for themselves or their family.

“It is going okay, we are starting to fill the trailer up with food,” said Bruce Pritchard, chief, City of Belton Fire Department. “We can do better, maybe the word is not getting out. We started the food drive on November 19, 2015. Maybe, we just need to get the word out more. We are getting donations from community members and even our employees, but we want to fill the twelve foot enclosed trailer with donations. We have a link on the City of Belton Facebook page, we just need it re-posted some more.”

The holidays is an important time to help stock the shelves of your local food pantry. When children are out of school for holiday break, they eat more meals at home. Sometimes family comes to visit and they want to make a meal for them. With the gift giving season, nobody wants to have to choose between giving gifts or having enough food. Or, not having an enjoyable and memorable holiday meal for the family.

“This is the second year we have hosted the food drive. We did it last year and need it to take off,” said Pritchard. “We know people give if they can give, and it’s okay if you can’t.”

Non-perishable food items will be accepted at Belton Fire Station No. 2, located at 420 Sparta Rd., until Dec. 14, 2015.